I am still having a hard time coming up with a good name for the farm.  The brooks that run off the property are hard to say and spell.  Some names of neighboring farms are “DejaView”, “NorthSong” and “Just-A-Mere”.  I like those and would like the name to fit in with those but still be unique.  So far BusyBoots Farm is at the top of the small list. AmberRose Farm is also up there.  

Once the website is up for the farm I thought it would be neat to let people name the trees and perennials being planted at the farm.  For instance a small sign would sit next to a Juniper and it would say “Jerry the Juniper named on April 16th 2008 by _______”.  Then a photo would go up and I could write up a little story about how Jerry did during the season.

It’s a little corny but it’s a good way to start interacting with the public regarding the farm.  Now open up your brain roofs, plug into the battery charger and let loose with some winning names if you please.

Thanks for helping.

Hi everyone, yup another storm has hit, this time promising up to 1 inch of ice!  So I had some time to research RoundUp, an herbicide made by Monsanto.  You’ve probably seen the bottle on the shelf at your hardware store or caught their ads on the boob tube.  Well, it seems that RoundUp is not just made for the home user.  Their largest market is in agricultural uses.  

RoundUp’s main active ingredient is Glyphosate which has been around since the seventies.  Guess what?!  It’s toxic to animals!  Guess what else?!  It has a half life of over 100 days when sprayed onto fields.  Why does this matter?  Well, besides poisoning the farmers and workers spraying the substance it can also get into waterways and still be on your hay when you go to cut, also killing an entire field at once is destroying habitats for many beneficial insects and critters.

It is apparently very common practice for farmers in my area to kill off everything before reseeding, their favored way to do this is by spraying RoundUp on the field.  In the old days the farmers would burn the fields, over plant, or use legumes to rebuild the soil. It looks like I’ll be doing one of the older techniques in order to grow better hay for my horses.  

This could mean having to get all of my own equipment so I don’t risk cross-contamination from other farmer’s equipment.  That would mean a bigger tractor, manure spreader, no till seed drill, drag rake, a hay elevator and a lot of back breaking work.  But it could be the only way to go.

For more information on the nasty side of RoundUp please visit Mindfully.org’s wonderful write up.

On top of the 12 1/2 inches of snow last week another 7 1/2 inches arrived Friday night.  I’m running out of room to put the snow but it was warm today and supposed to be warmer tomorrow.  After putting the tractor away yesterday I realized I had tweaked my knee somehow so I took some time off to rest it and to do some research.

I’ve decided to keep the main house pretty much as is on the exterior with the exception of a glass sun room on the south side and a glass silo on the southwest corner.  The silo will house a spiral staircase that leads to a small loft.  This may have to get tempered down from a silo to a glass atrium but either way it should look pretty cool and be functional.

Since there wont be much space added to the existing structure I’ll need an outbuilding to store my wood working tools that is away from the barn but close to the studio.  So I started researching barns and outbuildings(below the fold):

Current Situation: So Blue It’s Purple – Past Critical

Two years ago Governor Eliot Spitzer said that parts of Upstate NY “look like Appalachia”.    He went on to say that he had a plan to fix it.  Well Gov. Spitzer, the farmers are waiting.  I am not a farmer, not yet anyway, but I intend to be one and have been talking with a few and have heard the same thing over and over…I can not afford to just farm, I have to have other avenues of income and the State is not supporting me in those efforts.

Another farm is now up for sale in Joe Bruno’s home town, Bruno and his thugs forced the farmer out by not allowing him to have a second source of income in the winter months on his own property. I asked the farmer what he made per acre of corn that he grew and he just laughed.  So it struck me that we have two major issues facing farmers in Upstate NY.  One, the price they are being paid, and two, not being allowed to do what it takes to keep the farm going.

I stopped to talk with a Dairy Farmer a little further north of Bruno’s town and was told that between the low price of milk on the farmer’s end and the high price of energy that this could be his final year.  He owns the most beautiful property with a stream and waterfall.  He invited me, a stranger, to go and take a dip the next time I was up that way as it might be the last time I’d have access to it.  

‘Round here the locals are known as “woodchucks” by some downstate.  It is an apt description as the majority of us are scruffy and prefer the woods to town.  So I thought it would be appropriate to share some life lessons I’ve learned by attending various woodchuck parties with you all in case you ever have the opportunity to go to one.

1. “We have a stage and everything” – this means someone laid down a piece of plywood on some tires.

2. “Weekend Festival” – usually means swatting flies in the hot sun or trying to stay dry under a tarp for several hours at a clip.

3. Showing up early means being recruited into the beer runs and setting up the “stage”.

4. Showing up late means having to park at the bottom of the hill and hiking up the treacherous 4WD road.

5. Bringing a propane stove and setting up coffee in the morning will make you everyone’s best friend for the day.

(10 more below the fold..can ya stand it?!)

Let’s see since I last updated I:

1. Fixed two broken lights in the barn, they were in the area originally intended for the horses but the previous owner found it easier to put them in another spot.  Now they’ll have the option of two places if I need to do work in one of the areas.

2. Took the ATV out to the farthest point of the property and tested the hand held radios.  The Cobras worked great but the Audiovox radios weren’t as strong.  It’s good to have the radios in case something happens and I need help.  The stories are many about men who were working on their tractors on the back 40 and had to lose a leg or an arm for lack of a communication device.

3. The birds are enjoying their sewet cake and feed, so far I’ve seen chickadees, winches, blue jays, wrens and there are some pigeons in the barn(note to self must fix cupola on barn), and an owl has decided to make the woods around here his/her home.

So when I’m a blank slate and my mind needs to reset I go play some TankBall or Mahjong or sharpen my skills at Big Jump Challenge.  I tried the Campaign Game but Edwards always seemed to lose. YoudaCamper is a cute distraction, you have to create and manage a small campground.  

I haven’t found an MMORPG I like yet but maybe you will. Other time wasters include CNN, FoxNews, CBS, ABC, NBC, TWC, etc…

This brain fart sponsored by GE™

What’s your favorite waster?